EU wants answers on Wall Street role in Greek debt

The European Commission has said it is seeking answers following allegations that Wall Street investment banks helped Greece hide the extent of its debt.

“Eurostat [the EU’s statistics agency] has, following these reports, already requested from the Greek authorities an explanation by the end of February,” said EU economy spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio at a news conference in Brussels on Monday (15 February).

Over the last decade, Wall Street banks facilitated Greek government efforts to skirt European debt limits, reported the New York Times over the weekend. One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped obscure billions in debt from officials in Brussels, the paper alleges.

Goldman executives approached Greece as recently as last November with complicated financial instruments to push debt from the country’s health care system far into the future, it continues, adding that similar arrangements have been struck in the past.